Today we will be looking at various recipes for Purina Pro Plan, Beta & similar foods in the Purina range.
Fun fact about Purina. Many vets will hand you Purina sponsored informational material when you take your dog in. If a company is explicitly sponsoring marketing materials at a vet, what do you think they want?
Correct. They want to sell you their products.
This is of course not bad if the sponsored product or service is of good quality, but what if it isn’t?
As you will see below, most of these ingredients will make you scratch your head and wonder why all these recipes seemingly tailored for your dog contain the same ingredients.
You might also wonder why a vet recommended food would contain maize starch, hydrolysed soya protein, sugar, corn gluten, wheat, corn, rice or ‘’soya meal’’ whatever that means.
Listen, we could side with the vet, or actively recommend foods like these and make more money.
But we won’t out of principle. We will never stock something like this.
Pro Plan Medium Puppy OptiStart: Chicken (20%), Dehydrated Poultry Protein, Wheat, Soya Meal, Animal Fat, Rice (8%), Maize, Digest, Dried Beet Pulp, Maize Gluten Meal, Minerals, Dried Egg, Fish Oil, Dried Colostrum (0.1%), Antioxidants.
Pro Plan Veterinary Diets HA Dry: Targeted conditions: Sensitive Digestion, sensitive skin: Maize Starch, Hydrolysed Soya Protein, Minerals, Coconut Oil, Sugar, Rapeseed Oil, Cellulose, Glycerine (from Vegetable Origin), Soya Oil, Fish Oil, Antioxidants.
Beta Puppy Large Breed: Turkey Meal (25%), Wheat, Corn, Soya Meal, Poultry Fat, Wheat Middling, Dried Beet Pulp, Corn Gluten, Digest, Dried Chicory Root (1%), Fish Oil, Minerals, Dried Carrot (0.07%), Dried Spinach (0.07%), Dried Parsley (0.07%), Natural Antioxidants.
Beta Sensitive. Vet Recommended for sensitive tummies: Salmon Meal (17%), Wheat, Corn, Rice (14%), Soya Meal, Poultry Fat, Dried Beet Pulp, Corn Gluten, Minerals, Dried Chicory Root (1%), Digest, Fish Oil, Dried Carrot (0.07%), Dried Spinach (0.07%), Dried Parsley (0.07%), Natural Antioxidants.
Beta Adult Large Breed: Turkey Meal (28%), Wheat, Corn, Wheat Middling, Poultry Fat, Dried Beet Pulp, Dried Chicory Root(1%), Digest, Minerals, Fish Oil, Dried Carrot(0.07%), Dried Spinach (0.07%), Dried Parsley (0.07%), Natural Antioxidants.
Some other reasons this food is junk are:
- Your dog lacks salivary amylase, which breaks down starches. This means they will have a very tough time digesting the high amount of carbs these foods have.
- Dogs make their own blood sugar through a process called gluconeogenesis. They DO NOT need carbs.
Furthermore, they have 8 hormones to raise sugar levels and only one to bring them down. Overloading their bodies with carbs leads to skin allergies, teeth & breath problems, IBD, IBS, pancreatitis, obesity...
- Dogs are meat, organ and bone eaters. They have sharp K-9s and carnassial teeth to crush bone. Any food they are given needs to be rich in good quality meat. Feeding that many carbs to a carnivore will ensure continual vet visits.
We could be naming reasons why foods like these are likely to make things worse all day, but, at the end of the day, you have to realise that certain brands and professions are in just for your money, and not to protect your dog.
We could make more money if we sold this, but that would not help who really matters: your dog or cat.
There are healthier, cheaper and better alternatives.
For example, a list of ingredients of a food we stock:
Fresh Chicken Meat (11%), Fresh Turkey Meat (7%), Fresh Whole Eggs (6%), Fresh Whole Herring (6%), Fresh Chicken Liver (5%), Fresh Whole Flounder (5%), Fresh Turkey Liver (5%), Fresh Chicken Heart (4%), Fresh Turkey Heart (4%), Fresh Chicken Necks (4%), Chicken Liver (Freeze-Dried), Turkey Liver (Freeze-Dried), Fresh Whole Pumpkin, Fresh Whole Butternut Squash, Fresh Whole Zucchini, Fresh Whole Parsnips, Fresh Carrots...
These ingredients are much, much healthier!
For a free, friendly chat about nutrition call 01642 90 36 50.
Alternatively, we have branches on Yarm High Street and Linthorpe Village.
You can also contact us on info@thepetquarter or ask us on Instagram and Facebook.
01642 90 36 50